This is the video I am referring to below:
I have been sitting on this update video for a while to gather my thoughts. I have praises and questions for what is coming, that I have also seen some others bring up here.
Praises:
- Putting a larger focus and value towards Trust and Safety is huge.
- Many mentioned the “Let adults be adults” line which is true. It is important to allow people the freedom in a social game to be themselves.
- Content Gating being a focus for avatars is good. Being able to decide what kind of content you do not want to see is huge.
- Hiding unsuitable content in Public/unverified spaces makes sense. Best to keep things out of view for individuals who should not see it.
- I am glad to see the team cracking down on bad actors.
- I am also glad to see you looking into new avenues for group leaders like myself to be able to police our own communities.
Questions:
- You have made mention of how you use the 3rd party company for validation of age. What you have not shown us is an example of the process. What exactly do you receive when an ID is processed? How exactly is the data stored? How do you ensure the ID is removed from their data banks and not used to sell to advertising/other parties looking for our data? I would be rather be shown this than told.
- Why can’t other services like ItsMe or ID.me not be used that many already trust? Ones that the individual has the choice of what data you are sent, not the verification service.
- Which Content Tags cannot be viewed unless you Age Verify?
- Let’s say I don’t verify… If I have a model with those content tags turned on, how will my own content appear to me?
- Will there ever be a way to mark specific elements on an avatar as being the Content Tagged, so that if a user blocks it the whole avatar is not removed from their view but just the elements in question?
- Will groups be able to allow specific content tags without Age Verification for their group only events?
- Will the new way of paying for Age Verification be stuck only to VRC+ users? If not, will VRC+ users need to pay twice going forward (for the subscription and age verification)?
- If Age Verification will be a separate charge, will it continue to be a reoccurring monthly charge or a one time charge?
- When you say separating audiences that shouldn’t be interacting, does that mean just keeping children away from adult groups? Or are you referring to controlling the kinds of groups you see based on things like an Algorithm (think Tiktok or YouTube)?
- Do you have any concerns that this may result in a similar situation of the Trust Ranks when those first came out? Where if you weren’t already a trusted user people would just ignore you? Like what if this may occur again with people shunning adults who won’t age verify?
- Will there be improvements made to the search functions for groups and worlds (i.e. using tags to help find what you are looking for)? Will more granular controls be added for the content gates on avatars (like specifying types of violence)?
